Carers caught in red tape trap

MINISTERS are under pressure to help thousands of older carers who are stripped of a key state benefit when they reach pension age.

Campaigners say taking the Carer's Allowance from pensioners is 'shocking and grossly unfair' and an insult to those who devote their lives to looking after others without recognition.

Carers drawing a pension face a morass of red tape if they want to claim enough to live on. The Carer's Allowance of £46.95 a week is paid to those who spend more than 35 hours looking after someone else at home. Claimants can also get Income Support and other benefits.

The allowance is withdrawn, however, as soon as claimants reach pension age - currently 60 for a woman and 65 for a man - at which time they receive just the state pension of £84.25. Around 200,000 men and women are thought to be affected.

Thousands of them lose out financially because the method of claiming back the shortfall in income is so complicated. Many others feel slighted and sidelined because their caring role is officially ignored once they reach pension age.

Valery McConnell, editor of the magazine Yours, which has launched a campaign for a change in the rules, said: 'This state of affairs is shocking and grossly unfair.

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'It is yet another indication of the Government failing to recognise the value of carers. The allowance they receive is already insultingly low and a small recompense for the hours they put in. Carers cannot retire from their caring responsibilities.'

Emily Holzhausen, of the charity Carers UK, said: 'This is a matter of recognition of the role of carers. We believe that ministers should find a way of changing their rules so that the system acknowledges that people are still carers when they reach pension age. '

Carer's Allowance, which is not paid to anyone who earns more than £84 a week after tax, includes an element of National Insurance so those who receive it can be paid a state pension.

When they 'retire' and lose the allowance, any shortfall is supposed to be replaced with payments from the means-tested Pension Credit scheme. But critics say the system is too confusing and puts many off claiming payments to which they are entitled.

Carers who want to restore their income after reaching pension age must claim the Carer's Allowance, even though they are not eligible to receive it, just so they can be refused. They must then use the refusal documents to claim an 'underlying entitlement' Pension Credit payment.

Anna Pearson, of Help the Aged, said: 'This is a problem. A lot of older people get really confused and end up losing out.'

But Minister for the Disabled Anne McGuire said: 'The Government fully recognises the importance and value of the work carers do. We have worked closely with the organisations representing carers to improve their financial position and access to services and support.'

The Government says reforms to help carers build better pensions and win greater recognition will be included in a forthcoming Pensions White Paper.

A revamp of the state pension system will lead to carers being treated as if they are in full-time work and making National Insurance contributions to help those who currently fail to make enough contributions and miss out on pensions.

Ministers say it will lead to 270,000 more men and women receiving the full basic pension by 2020.

'BLAIR HAS NO RESPECT FOR US'

JUNE TAGG knows all about having to provide fulltime care for a loved one while struggling on a meagre pension. She looks after her daughter Susan, 39, who is losing her sight and has learning difficulties, diabetes, kidney failure and thyroid problems. Susan's condition started to deteriorate three years ago. Mrs Tagg, 64, from Old Coulsdon, Surrey, is always at her side. Nightly home dialysis, having the central heating on constantly and cleaning bedclothes frequently keep her household bills high.

Her husband Alfred, a 69-year-old retired rail worker, regularly has to drive his daughter to and from hospital. The couple also pay for her to use taxis. But despite the fact their devoted work saves the NHS paying to transport Susan in ambulances and cuts the amount of treatment she receives in hospital, Mrs Tagg lost her Carer's Allowance when she reached retirement age.

The mother of five and former nurse gets just her pension and a weekly £24 top-up. Mrs Tagg, who founded the support group Carers Unite, said: 'If I was just a pensioner and not a carer, I could go to work and earn as much as I wanted and my money would not be taken away. I am working very hard and they have taken my allowance away.

'In spite of what Tony Blair says about carers, I don't think he has any respect for us.'